Pre-med student Katie Berky warms up her spicy tomato soup in the crockpot down the hall. Professor Adriane Fugh-Berman places a tall vase of purple irises on the table with the plates and forks. Other students angle for a spot to put their kale, spinach and fruit salads.

Long after Karen Gale, Ph.D., a professor of pharmacology at Georgetown University Medical Center, began studying epilepsy, she gave birth to a daughter who experienced seizures as an infant. Gale knew enough about neonatal epilepsy and the drug used to treat the condition, that she was, as she says, “deeply concerned about the effects of anti-epilepsy drugs on the brain of a growing child.”

In June, I will be returning to Washington for the annual Pharmed Out conference, a project located at Georgetown University Medical Center. It is one of my favorite events of the year, in part because of the wide array of academics, journalists, and activists who attend, but mainly because of its extraordinarily committed, outspoken director, Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman, and her merry band of student volunteers. Adriane agreed to an interview by email. Part 1 appears below. I will post Part 2 next week.